Max Chandler: Climbing
Artist(s):
Title:
- Climbing
Exhibition:
Creation Year:
- 2005
Medium:
- Acrylic on Canvas
Size:
- 24 inches x 36 inches
Category:
Artist Statement:
I want to make art that is connected to contemporary technology. I do this by working with robots. A real robot is very different from the robots offered by today’s entertainment. Movies are full of android, human-like robots played, of course, by humans. The robots on popular robot-wars 1V shows are really remote-control cars and not robots at all. The kind of robot I mean is a self-contained, autonomous, mobile device. It senses the environment around it and responds. These robots can be wonderful tools for making art. I specifically design my robots with an artistic goal. One of my favorites is Gimpy1 , a walking robot designed to have a limping gait that provides a distinctive line quality. It also turns with growth curves, rather than circular arcs. To make a robot like this requires understanding mechanics, electronics, programming, and art fundamentals.Gimpy1 has a light sensor aimed at the painting surface. It can see its own marks. I start the work by supplying a seed line or shape to trace. The resulting work is my input and guidance combined with the robot’s personality. The resulting images are calligraphic, organic, and geometric. They are infused at every place with the technology of the 21 st century. This body of work could not be made at another time. The Cacti series is a number of acrylic on canvas works inspired bythe prickly pear (Opuntia) cactus. The texture, structure, environment, and life struggle combine in a visual jazz based upon cactus without actually depicting a cactus. These multilayered works overlay macroscopic and microscopic views embracing the cytology, physiology, and morphology of this type of cactus.
